One One One
by pjstillnoon
Summary: "Move over," Scully whispers. He obliges wordlessly and she climbs in next to him. As he rearranges the blankets over her she settles in close. Set S7-ish. This is my X-File. Been hanging out on my computer for years.
1. Chapter 1

**Mulder's Apartment – Night**

Scully is asleep on Mulder's couch. The room is dark, the only light is coming from the glow of the fish tank. Scully wakes slightly, the Mexican print blanket Mulder pulled over her earlier that night falls away. She wakes further, disorientated until she gets her bearings. Mulder has clearly gone to bed. She gets up and walks quietly to his doorway. She watches him for a few moments and then glances over her shoulder at the door, then back to his sleeping form. She should really leave. She walks slowly across the room.

"Mulder?" She calls to him in a low voice. She repeats his name a second time. He stirs, blinking, confused. "Move over," Scully whispers. He obliges wordlessly and she climbs in next to him but as he rearranges the blankets over her she settles in close and he naturally holds her in his arms. They lie for a few moments, facing each other. Scully is watching his features in the darkness, making out the profile from the streetlamp light coming in through the blinds. She shifts forwards and kisses him lightly. Mulder leans towards her, drawing her in closer but she suddenly pulls away. He can't see her anymore.

"One, one, one," she whispers at him and then she is completely gone.

Mulder wakes with a start. He is lying on his stomach. The room is still dark but he is clearly alone. He glances up at the clock beside the bed, its red numbers glow 1:11.

**J Edgar Hoover FBI Building**

**Washington DC**

**9:14am**

Scully walks from the elevator down the corridor at a quick pace. She passes stacks of boxes containing case files and evidence packs, to Mulder's office in the basement. Outside it she pauses, steels herself and then walks through, tilting her chin up slightly as she passes under the door frame.

"Good morning," Mulder greets enthusiastically. He is clearly pleased to see her but falters slightly when he sees Scully's cool expression in response, her eyebrows raised in question. "Uh, take a look at this," Mulder turns towards the projection screen, a permanent fixture in the office. Scully gets the lights as she comes further into the room and turns expectantly towards the screen. Mulder displays the first slide. It shows a picture of an average looking man.

"This is Brandon Harlow, thirty nine year old Colorado native, married, two children. He is currently self-employed, having left a fifteen year career as an accountant to channel what he calls a 'higher power'." Mulder glances at Scully to check her reaction; she looks characteristically bored.

The next slide ticks around showing the same man in a mental institution. He is in a group photo of fifteen others, all in the trademark hospital pyjamas. "This is Mr Harlow just a few months ago. He suffered a mid life crisis in the most classic sense of the word. He lost his job, his home and subsequently his wife, who took the children with her." Mulder turns to look at Scully again. She's still waiting for him to get to the point. "He was diagnosed with severe clinical depression and had attempted suicide three times with no luck."

Scully scoffs. "Some would say that was unlucky."

Mulder hides an amused smile. "During a series of, shall we say, fortuitous circumstances, Mr Harlow was left at a diner, unsupervised and un-medicated for an hour and eleven minutes. During that hour he claims to have met what he calls a 'true master' who revealed to him the secrets of the universe." Here Scully frowns, ready to object but Mulder keeps going. "Once he gets back to the institution, of his own accord, he requests another evaluation, which he passes and is released."

Mulder lets the next slide click into the place. "The next _day_, Scully, he gets a new home." A new slide, "sets up a new business. And then his former wife mysteriously passes away leaving custody of their children with him."

"You think he murdered his wife to get the kids back?"

"The waitress in the diner who served the two men said the 'master' paid the bill by signing 'one, one, one' at the bottom of the cheque and that at the time she wasn't in the least concerned about getting the two dollars worth of coffee they drank, even though normally it would have come out of her wages. The next day their supplier accidentally delivered one extra bag of coffee powder but when they were queried about it said the diner was a preferred customer and they could keep it as a goodwill gesture."

Scully gives Mulder a bemused expression, back to wondering where he was going with all of this. This next slide graced the screen. It showed an average white male standing in front of a black taxi cab.

"The men left in a cab," Mulder continues. "The driver claims he was paid with a gum wrapper. That afternoon someone left a twenty dollar note in the back of his cab that he found at the end of his shift when he cleaned out the seat. He, in an effort of good citizenship, claims he tried to track down whoever left it there, but no one came forward."

"So he pocketed it?"

Mulder shrugs in answer. He would too. "What do you think?"

"I think it would be extremely difficult to track the owner of a twenty dollar note from a cab. The sheer number of people who pass through the vehicle would make it difficult but the fact that they are usually anonymous and most destinations requested are public, means that chances are…"

"I mean, what do you think about Brandon Harlow?"

Scully takes a second to recover from being cut off so abruptly. "I think that it's an amazing story of overcoming the odds Mulder."

"And his mystery diner companion, the 'master' with the secrets of the universe?"

"A figment of his imagination. The guy is unwell."

Mulder gives her an 'ah ha' expression. "But the waitress and cab driver both witnessed seeing someone _with_ Mr Harlow _and_ he passed his evaluation. He's cured now."

"Then he was probably some friendly local who gave him a wake up call about getting his life back on track."

"Neither the waitress at the diner nor the cab driver, who are both natives to the area, recognised the 'master' and Mr Harlow was diagnosed with _severe_ clinical depression. Now Scully, I'm no doctor, nor am I a psychologist, but I'm guessing it would take more than an hour talking with a stranger to get over something like that, would it not?"

Scully considers this. "What's your take on it then?"

"I'm thinking we may have another Jeremiah Smith on our hands."

"Jeremiah Smith, Mulder?" Scully asks dubiously, leaning forward in the way she does when she thinks his ideas are ludicrous and amusing at the same time. "All the Jeremiah's were executed by the bounty hunter years ago. And just for arguments sake, say there was one out there who survived, he healed people with his hands, Mulder, he didn't give out free advice."

"And what about signing his name with a series of numbers and paying for the cab with a gum wrapper?"

Scully thinks for a moment and then raises her shoulders in a shrug that she doesn't drop until she has finished speaking. "They must be mistaken. It may have been too dark in the cab to see what the man handed over and the signature might be so illegible on the cheque that it just looks like numbers but is really a name."

Mulder keeps his back towards the screen but ticks over the next slide anyway. It is perfectly timed of course to show the diner receipt with the numbers neatly printed on the bottom, 111. The next slide is the gum wrapper.

"That could be anyone's gum wrapper," Scully counters.

Mulder lets the next image fall into place. It is the underside of the gum wrapper; the same neat series of one's printed in the centre.

"Did you have the handwriting matched?" Scully walks past him to inspect the image closer.

Mulder turns to follow her. "I did. It's not much to go on," he hit the slide button again and the analysis came up. "But there's an eighty nine percent match that the down strokes were the same on both samples." He demonstrates what is marked on the screen in someone's tidy neat handwriting anyway. "Eighty nine percent is pretty good odds Scully."

"Ok so what do you want to do? Go to Colorado and find your Jeremiah? Are we going to run around after more aliens?"

Mulder ignores the cynicism in her tone and goes to his desk. "We are going to go because this is what we do Scully. We investigate the weird and wonderful. And because the Assistant Director asked me to look into it."

"Skinner asked you to look into this?" Scully looks up at the screen dubiously.

"It came down to him as a request and he thought we would be better suited to investigate." He picks up the envelope with their plane tickets in it and hands hers over. Scully opens it to check the flight time and finds a single sheet of paper with 111 written on it, clearly in Mulder's handwriting. She gives him an unimpressed look. He takes her ticket out of his jacket pocket. "I think there are a lot of questions here that need answering," he tells her handing it over. As it passes out of his hand he sees that the flight number is 111.

**Harlow Residence**

**Trinidad**

**Colorado**

The agents pull up in front of a large two storied brick home. There are two cars in the driveway. One is a red Porsche, the other a silver BMW. The house is clearly in a nice neighbourhood and has neat gardens and manicured lawns. There is a small sign hanging from a wooden pole that states the name of the business and its nature – 'Harlow Helps, ask the universe for the answers and change your life.'

"What do you think Scully?" Mulder gestures at the sign. "Maybe I should ask if there is life on other planets?"

"I, for one, would welcome it being cleared up once and for all," she quips in response. She walks off in front of him and he gives a chuckle before following, admiring the cars as he goes by them. When he gets to the door Scully has already knocked. The door is answered by a fairly attractive woman in her late thirties who gives them a welcoming smile. They produce badges.

"I'm agent Scully and this is my partner Mulder. We're with the FBI."

"Come on in," she welcomes without hesitation, clearly not bothered by their presence or curious by it. Scully glances at Mulder quickly before warily stepping over the threshold. They are now standing in a reception area. It is decorated in a new age theme, crystals are on the shelves, a table in the centre of the room holds a pyramid and more crystals and there are posters on the walls promoting positive thinking. The room is bathed in sunlight and peacefully quiet, as though all street noise was blocked out on purpose.

"We're looking for Brandon Harlow," Scully turns on their guide, wanting answers and showing signs that she is uncomfortable in the setting. Mulder looks around the room, letting her get the standard questions out of the way.

"He's with a client at the moment but you can wait for him if you'd like. He has a fortuitous opening in ten minutes."

"He _is_ here?" Scully double checks.

The woman gestures at the door framed on one side by a hanging plant, its tendrils almost reaching to the floor. "He is in the middle of a reading."

"A reading?"

"Yes. Is that what you're here for?"

Sully narrows her eyes. "We're here to talk to him about a man he met three months ago."

"The 'master'?" The woman guesses intuitively.

Mulder's attention is refocused. "Do you know the master?"

"No I never met him, but he was a blessing in my life all the same."

"You're Mrs Harlow?" Mulder guesses.

"Yes," She gives him a smile.

Mulder looks her up and down impressed. Even Scully does a double take. "We didn't know he remarried."

"I've known Brandon for fifteen years."

"You were also an accountant," Mulder knew.

She nods. "Please, have a seat. He'll be out shortly."

"Wait," Scully calls her back. "Why did you leave the firm?"  
Mrs Harlow gives Scully a slow, deep, peaceful smile. "Happiness."

Scully gives an immediate disbelieving expression.

"It means more to me than my work ever did." She makes a quick exit before she can be questioned further.

Scully turns to Mulder clearly unimpressed, her eyebrows raised in a silent request for his opinion on Mrs Harlow's statement. He gives her a bemused shrug but before he even gave thought to her words, let alone being able to articulate them, the door opens and another woman passes through followed by Harlow. She is short with greying hair and gives Harlow a hug. Then she walks from the room, giving the agents a smile on her way out.

Scully digs out her badge again and flashes it in front of Mr Harlow. "I'm agent Scully with the FBI. Can we ask you a few questions?"

"What can I do for you agents?" Harlow asks gesturing them into seats. He seems very clam and collected. If anything he looks younger than the pictures that Mulder screened in his office a few days ago.

"We understand you've gone through some dramatic life changes recently," Mulder begins, taking over from his partner.

"I have recently come into some knowledge that has helped me create a life that I love and deserve," Brandon answers with an open expression.

Mulder pauses, the urge to ask a million questions has abated, as though he is at peace with the world. Scully remains quiet. "But uh, you were recently institutionalised?"

"That's correct."

"And you were cured in an hour conversation with a man you describe as being a 'master'?"

"Cured is not a word I would use to describe what happened to me."

"What did happen to you?"

"I spoke with a man who has learnt how to make this existence work for him, instead of working against it, and he enlightened me with the same knowledge. I applied it and now my life works for me, not against me, and I am happy. I have everything I need or want."

Mulder knew there was more to ask but he couldn't shake the feeling that everything was as it should be. He nods in response to Harlow's statement. "And what is it you do here?"

"I try to give people the same opportunity I had."

"You have the 'master' tucked away back there?" Mulder jokes lightly.

Harlow smiles. "No."

"Are you a 'master'?"

"I'm on the path but I have a ways to go yet. I try to give people the first opportunity I received myself, by allowing myself to channel the universe."

"The entire universe? That's a lot of power."

Harlow smiles his peaceful smile again, like nothing Mulder could quip would ever have an impact on him. "Would you like to make an appointment?"

"I would."

Harlow retrieves his appointment book and they select an appropriate time for the next day. Then he walks Scully and Mulder to the door. They walk to the car wordlessly but once they are settled in their seats they seem to snap out of a daze.

"You didn't ask him about his dead wife," Scully accuses straight away.

"You didn't ask him anything at all. Where were you?"

"I," Scully starts to say but frowns and finds she can't explain what kept her tongue tied. "What does he mean by channelling the power of the universe?"

"Perhaps he's not quite as cured as the doctors make out."

Scully gives Mulder an impressed expression, like she doesn't believe what he has just said. She doesn't question him in case he reneges.

"I guess I'll find out tomorrow," Mulder puts the car in drive and pulls away while Scully continues to hold her expression.

**Harlow Residence**

**Exterior**

**10:00am**

"Mulder, he's not going to be able to give you any answers about your sister that you don't already know. He probably spent this morning finding out all about you in the internet." Scully is pleading softly, hoping he will change his mind.

Mulder gives her an amused expression, as though this is something he has considered, but doesn't answer her. He gets out of the car and then leans through the open window. "Find out what you can about his ex wife." He walks off leaving Scully exasperated.

Mulder goes to the door and as he approaches Mrs Harlow is opening it. She welcomes him inside and shows him to the waiting area. "Can I get you anything while you wait?"

Mulder gives her a polite smile. "No thank you."

"Ok," she gives a nod and another smile and wanders from the room. Mulder leans forward where he stands to see her leave down the short hallway. Once she is gone he goes to the book shelf and reads over the titles. He takes down a copy of "Message of a Master." He turns it over to read the back and quickly returns it to the shelf as Mr Harlow enters the room.

"Mr Mulder," he walks across to shake hands. "Come on through."

They go into the room in the back, which is dimly lit by shaded lamps and a few candles. The room smells of raspberry. There is a black lazy boy to one side facing another comfortable chair with an up right back and a portable table to the side of it.

"Take a seat," Harlow offers directing Mulder to sit. He eases himself into the lazy boy but does not lean back in it yet. "Now what will happen is I will take myself into a deep meditative state, which will take a few minutes. When I give you a signal you are welcome to then ask any questions you would like to know of the universe."

"I just blurt them out?"

"Yes."

"Can I record this?"

Harlow smiles unperturbed. "That would be fine."

Mulder produces a small tape recorder from his jacket pocket and sets it down on the table top. Harlow then pulls the lever on his chair and leans back in it so he is almost horizontal. Mulder then quietly pulls a sheet of paper from out of his jacket pocket and unfolds it, all the while checking to see if Harlow is watching, like he has just produced contraband.

**David's Motel**

**Room 111**

**10.09am**

Scully is sitting at a desk with her laptop computer in front of her. On the screen is a website for the local registry of births, deaths and marriages. In the query box she types the name 'Martha Harlow'. The page turns white for a second and then information starts pouring in. There is along list of Martha Harlow's, the end of the list shows Martin Harlow and other variations that are similar. Scully consults a chart on the table next to her and selects the Martha Harlow with the correct birth date and street address. The screen changes again and comes up with more details, including children's names, date of death and street address.

**Harlow Residence**

**Interior**

**10.10am**

Mulder is waiting patiently in his chair. It seems Harlow has gone to sleep stretched out in the lazy boy. Mulder checks his watch, angling the face of it to catch the light from a lamp. It shows eleven minutes past ten. Mulder frowns at it for a second. Then movement out of the corner of his eye causes him to look up. Harlow has raised his hand. "You may ask your questions," he speaks in a voice that is not quite his own. His hand drops again and his eyelids start to move rapidly.

Mulder considers the sheet of paper in front of him. "Who am I talking to?"

Harlow pauses. "I have many names of which you are familiar but for the purposes of clarity and understanding you may call me Abraham."

"Abraham, where are you?"

"I am here and everywhere. I am a part of you and Brandon, of Dana, of your mother and father, Skinner, of the man who delivers your paper in the morning, of the plant hanging outside this office door, the chair you are sitting on, the walls that surround you, the earth that you walk upon, the air you breath. I am one with everything just as you are one with me.

Mulder frowns slightly and looks around the room. "Do you know of a man known as the 'master'?"

"There are many masters."

"I'm thinking of one in particular."

"I know of the man you are talking about."

"Is he human?"

"Yes."

Mulder was not expecting that answer. "Do you know where I can find him?"

"He will only be found if he wants to be."

"Is he still in Colorado?"

"Yes for now."

"Do you know where my sister, Samantha is?"

"Yes."

"Where is she?" Mulder leans forward intensely interested.

"She is in a place of peace."

"She's in heaven?"

"There is no such place in the biblical sense of the word."

"Is she dead?"

"She's very much alive."

"Can I see her?"

"No. She no longer inhabits a physical vehicle that you will be able to look upon."

"Is Brandon Harlow a master?"

"Brandon is on the path to becoming one. He understands the laws of the universe and uses them to his benefit. You, sub-consciously, are also on the same path but you are unaware of your power."

Mulder looks slightly impressed but mostly bemused. "What power is this?"

"To create your life in a way that makes you happy and fulfilled."

"I create my own life?"

"We each create our own lives and realities."

"So if I wanted to I could find the 'master'?"

"If you focus then, yes, it technically is possible."

"Technically?"

"For a beginner it would be easier for you to start with something smaller."


	2. Chapter 2

**Harlow Residence**

**Exterior**

**10:37am**

Scully walks up the path and knocks on the door. Mrs Harlow answers with a welcoming smile and ushers her inside. "Are you here to meet your partner?"

"Uh yes," Scully responds searching around for him. She checks her watch.

"You're a little early but come and have a seat. Can I get you anything, coffee?"

"No thank you," Scully brushes her off in the way she usually does when someone she doesn't understand makes her uncomfortable.

"You have a hard time dealing with all of this, don't you?"

"What's that?"

"I noticed the cross around your neck. You have a rigid set of beliefs and this," she gestures around the room. "Contradicts that." Mrs Harlow takes a seat in the waiting area. The low rumble of male voices could be heard coming from the other room. Scully stays on her feet feeling more uncomfortable and thinking of objecting until Mrs Harlow suddenly changes the subject. "How long have you worked with Mr Mulder?"

Scully is stunned by the question. "I don't see what that has to do with religion."

"It doesn't unless your faith forbids you to have relationships."

"Mulder and I do not have a relationship."

"I can see that. But he wants to have one with you. I take it you are the one resisting?"

Scully scoffs in her surprise. She's not sure how to approach the rest of the conversation but his saved from a response by the approach of Mulder and Brandon.

They're driving before either of them says something. They both seem lost in their thoughts. Mulder is staring out of the window and then glances over at his partner who is focusing on the road. Finally he asks, "What did you find out about the deceased Mrs Harlow?"

"She died of natural causes."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not Mulder. I reviewed the autopsy findings and spoke with the coroner. She died peacefully in her sleep from a massive brain embolism. She had been a smoker for twenty years."

"No foul play at all?"

"There's no evidence of it whatsoever. No trace evidence, nothing in the tox screen. I don't know where else to look. There's nothing there. I talked to Skinner about it and he agrees that there's nothing more to look into. I booked us flights home for this afternoon."

"What if someone willed it into reality?"

"Willed it, Mulder?" Scully glances over at him incredulously. "I'm not sure what to say to that. You mean like conjured through a black art? I guess that's possible."

"Scully," Mulder breathes impressed.

"We've seen it before Mulder," Scully continues ignoring him. "But aside from her death there isn't anything else that is remotely sinister in this case. In fact it's quite the opposite."

"It's a little nauseating don't you think?"

Scully smiles and glances at him again. "What did you find out?"

"That we are all one with the universe."

Scully raises her eyebrow in the way she does when she's unimpressed but amused despite herself. Mulder goes back to looking out of the window. "How about a cup of coffee?"

Scully watches him for a second, gleaning his meaning in his glance and turns the car around to head across town.

**West Diner**

**Exterior**

**11:10am**

The agents enter the diner; Mulder holds the door for Scully. The place is mostly empty so they take a booth in the centre. Mulder glances at the clock on the wall and notes the time. He leans forward to comment to his partner. "What time do you have?"

Scully pulls back the cuff on her jacket to look at her watch. "Ten past eleven."

"The weirdest thing has been happening recently…"

A waitress approaches with a pot, "Coffee?"

"Yes please," Scully turns her cup over in its saucer.

Mulder declines. "We're actually looking for someone."

"Oh?"

"A man came in here a few months ago. He paid his bill by signing one, one, one at the bottom."

"Oh yes," a gooey expression comes over the waitress. "I remember him. He was such a beautiful man."

"Beautiful?" Scully mutters.

"He had such an amazing aura. He sat just over there with Brandon Harlow." She points with her free hand. "They had coffee."

Mulder puts two and two together. "You served them?"

"Yes I did."

"Was he a local man? Someone you recognised?"

The waitress gives a slight frown and shakes her head. "No I can't say I'd seen him around before.

"Can you give us a description?" Scully asks.

"Oh sure. He was tall and good looking. Light-ish, dark-ish hair. Bluey, greeny, brown eyes." She suddenly looks confused.

Mulder and Scully glance at each other. "Do you know where he went after he left here?"

"They got into a cab. I called for it myself."

"Can you give us the name of the cab company?" Scully takes out her notebook and a pen.

"I can give you the name of the driver. Jackson Wells."

**Trinidad City, Colorado**

**Exterior**

**11:57am**

A man sits in his cab. He adjusts the volume on his radio. "Dispatch to Cab one eleven, Wells, there are two FBI agents looking for you…"

There's a tap on the window and he looks across to find Mulder leaning down with his badge pressed up against the pane. Wells lets the window down.

"I'm with the FBI. Can you step out sir, we'd like to speak with you."

"Am I in trouble or something?"

Scully answers, "No Mr Wells, you're not in trouble; we would just like to ask you a few questions."

He gets out slowly and when he is standing beside the closed driver's door Mulder asks, "A few months ago you took a fare for a man who paid you with a gum wrapper."

"Yes I remember him."

"Can you describe him for us?" Scully asks, her eyebrows raised clearly interested in seeing what he has to say.

"Uh sure. He had dark-ish hair and was sort of middle aged. He was pretty average."

Mulder gives Scully an amused look.

"He had this energy around him, you know?"

"No we don't know," Mulder interjects.

"He was peaceful."

"And you were willing to accept his gum wrapper as payment?"

The cabbie shrugs. "It was an eleven dollar fare. I don't remember being bothered. And it didn't matter much because the next day I found a twenty in the back that more than covered the fare."

"Ok thank you for your time Mr Wells," Scully stalks off having heard enough. Mulder gives Wells a 'what-can-you-do' expression and follows her.

"What are you thinking Scully?" He calls to her catching up quickly as they head back towards their car.

"I'm amazed these people aren't more pissed at potentially being ripped off."

"But you heard him; he found a twenty that more than covered the eleven dollar fare. And the diner more than recovered the amount of coffee he drank."

"What if he's like Pusher?"

"Pusher?" Mulder's interest piques.

"He walked into the FBI with a piece of paper taped to his front that said 'pass' and no one questioned him. No one remembers seeing him even though he walked right by them. This is similar to what we experienced with him."

"But the waitress and cab driver both remember him."

"They just can't tell anyone what he looked like."

Mulder has no response to that.

"I don't think we're looking for Jeremiah Smith, Mulder." Scully gestures at him with the car keys.

"I agree Scully."

She hesitates for a second, thrown by the fact that the agreed with her. "I think this is something else all together."

"So do I. And I think it has something to do with the numbers." Mulder takes the keys out of her hand and heads around to the driver's side.

"What numbers?" Scully asks his back.

"One, one, one, Scully. Those numbers are trying to tell me something."

Scully sighs and goes to the passenger side of the car. "We're going to miss our flight," she says to herself as she walks.

**David's Motel**

**Exterior Room 111**

**12:34pm**

Mulder approaches his room first, retrieving a newspaper and then meets Scully out side of her room. "Look at this," he folds the paper to a specific story and then hands it over to her.

"Eleven hundred donated to local school anonymously." Scully reads aloud and then looks to her partner. Mulder points to her door.

"One, one, one, Scully."

Scully looks from her door number to the article. "Look at his," she places a finger under the page number. 111. "Coincidence?"

"Those numbers have been all over this case. The cheque, the gum wrapper," Mulder lists them off. Then he remembers his watch. "Today I looked at my watch during my reading and it said eleven past ten. I woke up in the night at eleven past one."

"What does it have to do with this case?"

"I'm not sure but I think the universe is trying to tell me something." Mulder goes back to the car and pauses as he walks by it. He looks over at his partner but he doesn't need to point out that the car registration is SM-111.

"Where are we going Mulder?" Scully asks getting in beside him.

"So see someone about the numbers." He takes a card from his jacket pocket and gives it to her.

"Harmonics, Mulder? Seriously?"

"They're the number experts."

"What about mathematicians? Or a numerologist?"

"Or accountants," Mulder adds putting the car in reverse. "Humour me." He gives Scully a quick smile before glancing over his shoulder as he pulls out of the park.

**Harlow Residence**

**Exterior **

**1:11pm**

"His wife is the harmonic expert?"

"Talk about coincidence!" Mulder quips as they pull up to the curb. They both exit and Mulder comes around to the passenger side of the car.

"We have to catch a flight in an hour and I haven't packed yet," Scully looks at her watch. "Oh my God Mulder, look at this!" She shows him the time. 1:11 pm.

Mulder hands her the keys. "You go pack. I'll meet you at the airport."

"Mulder," Scully tries to call him back exasperatedly as he starts to walk away.

"I won't be long," Mulder promises. He watches Scully drive away and then knocks on the door. A teenaged boy answers.

"Yeah?" He asks.

"Is your father or mother home?"

"Nah they're both out."

"Know where they are?"

"Nope," the boy shakes his head.

"Know when they're going to be back?"

Another shake of his head. Mulder looks over his shoulder at the red Porsche in the drive. A brown sedan is now beside it. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"It's lunch."

"Right," Mulder nods but his expression tells the boy he doesn't completely buy the excuse.

The teenager shifts on the door step and glances around the neighbourhood. Mulder doesn't say anything, letting him sweat for a bit. Finally he speaks first. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Not unless you want to give me a ride to the airport?" Mulder asks flippantly.

"Take the Porsche," the young man answers with a grin.

"Your father might object to that."

"Oh no," he answers dryly. "The Universe will find a way to get it back to him."

**Car Interior**

**1:41pm**

Mulder is driving the red Porsche. The engine is revving loudly and he is slouched in his seat as he sits at the lights. There is no one else around so he drags himself off when the lights go green. His cell phone rings and he is startled out of his racing mentality.

"Mulder it's me."

"Scully I'm on my way. I'll be ten minutes."

**Airport Interior**

"Ok Mulder." Scully is already at the airport. She checks her watch. "Where are you?"

"Heading past the motel now."

"You'll miss the flight," Scully tells him after she realises how far away he is.

"I can get another one."

"Ok," Scully responds and hangs up on him.

**Car Interior**

Mulder hangs up just as there's a loud bang and the car suddenly swerves and skids to a stop amid screeching tyres. Mulder sits for a while looking shaken. When he opens his eyes, he glances down at the speedometer. It reads '111,111'.

"You're kidding me," he breathes. He gets out of the car and inspects the tyres. The back left has blown out. The street he is on is deserted and eerily quiet. He checks his watch and then goes to the boot to retrieve the spare.

"I believe you were looking for me?" A male voice asks.

"Not unless you can change a tyre in ten minutes," Mulder answers drolly. He looks over his shoulder to find a man in mechanics overalls. The white badge where a name is normally embroidered has nothing on it. He is wiping his hands on a red rag and tucks it into his back pocket.

"Now I reckon I might be able to help you out with that."

Mulder steps back to let the man get to the spare tyre and jack. "Do you work round here?" He asks looking around for a garage.

"You could say that."

Mulder looks behind him but doesn't see any place he could possibly work.

"Where is your partner?" The man lifts the spare out.

"She's waiting for me at the airport."

"You're cutting it close to catch your flight." He starts to jack the car up.

"I'll make it."

The man smiles as he looks up at Mulder. "Are you sure about that?"

"I have to make that flight or stay another night and my partner has all my luggage."

"So you will make it."

"One way or another I always do," Mulder responds.

The man nods. "Have you ever wondered how?"

"Excuse me?" Mulder asks caught off guard.

"I understand you met with a friend of mine."

Mulder looks perturbed.

"Brandon Harlow."

Realisation hits Mulder suddenly. "Are you Abraham?"

"You may call me Abraham if you wish though that is not my name. If you were looking for answers then you went to the right place." He slowly works on the nuts with a tool.

"But I didn't get any answers."

"Then you didn't ask the right questions. Or perhaps you weren't listening?"

Mulder frowns. "I thought…"

"You thought," The man interrupts. "You usually live by your instincts and they serve you well. Your life follows series of fortuitous events but you have always missed seeing what was right under your nose because you thought about it, you didn't sense it."

"What are we talking about?"

"One, one, one."

"All I know about one, one, one is that it's the emergency services number in New Zealand."

The man smiles. "There's more to it than that."

"Like what? Enlighten me."

"I'll give it to you in a nutshell seeing as we are so pushed for time. The earth has its own energy fields like you and I. This field can be measured and its frequency is one, one, one," he spoke slowly and clearly, abandoning his work as he talked.

"Like a radio?"

"Similar in its conception."

Mulder nods. "So why have I been seeing it everywhere?"

"You tell me?"

"The universe is trying to tell me something?"

"I'd say so."

"What is it?"

"That's for you to work out. All the information is there. What you want has always been right in front of you."

"My sister?" Mulder guesses.

The man shakes his head. "You know what happened to your sister."

Mulder looks confused. His mind is obviously racing. "What is it we're talking about?"

The man sighs, "Your partner."

"What does Scully have to do with this?"

"She's what you really want isn't she?"

Mulder stares at him for a second. "I have to go," he ignores the question. He bends down to change the tyre himself but it is already done. The man lifts the blown out tyre into the boot and slams it shut. "How did you…?"

"If you want something enough you can make it happen."

"I've heard that before."

"It's good advice if you want to listen to it." He steps up onto the curb next to Mulder, the red rag again in his hand. "My friend Brandon Harlow turned his life around and now he has a wife who loves him. Even if he didn't have the Porsche and the nice home she would still be at his side because they love each other. We are nothing without love. Love is the answer to everything."

"How can I contact you about payment for the tyre?" Mulder asks forcefully ignoring what he is saying. It is an excuse to change the subject.

The man reaches into his overalls to retrieve a card from his pocket and hands it over. "Dreams are just questions we haven't worked out how to ask yet."

"I'm not sure what that means…"

"You will always get what you've always got, if you always do what you've always done," the man calls over his shoulder as he starts to walk away.

Mulder frowns at his back and then glances down at the card in his hand. It is white and there is nothing on it but a lower case x typed in the centre. He turns it over but it is also blank on the back. He looks up and finds the street completely empty. He glances around but there is no one in sight. He jogs to the corner in the direction the man had headed. There's no one on any of the streets. Mulder looks around bemused.

**Airport Interior **

**2:11pm**

Mulder races through the airport and gets to his gate just as the man is calling for the final seats to board. It is the same man from the street who changed the car tyre though Mulder does not recognise him. The name badge is shiny gold and blank and the man makes not effort to jog Mulder's memory. "You just made it."

"I always do," Mulder hands over his boarding pass. The man rips the ticket and hands it back to him. "Did a red headed woman get on the plane?"

"Your partner? Yes she did. She didn't want to waste the opportunity."

Mulder finds the comment odd but starts to board anyway. He goes to put his ticket in his jacket pocket but finds that it is too big and won't fit. Underneath it is a book: 'Message of a Master'. Mulder looks over his shoulder quickly, surprised, but the doors have been closed behind him. He looks down at the ticket to find his seat number: 11A.


End file.
